Where It All Began

Sunday 31st May 2015, 15:04 PM

There was a table in what was once the study, a solid oak one which was chipped. Without any reason for it being left behind, not so much as it being nailed to the ground, they had decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Laying the map on the table, Carl stretched it out so that they could all see it clearly. It showed the entire town, as well as the nearby area, on it. Though it wasn't exactly a metropolis, New Harmony was still large enough to be hard to navigate without one.

Mike looked at the map and could see that it was at least not out of date. "This isn't going to be easy, I'll tell you that much. New Harmony's a big place. Lots of ground to cover."

Nodding at that, Mike started to point towards parts of town. "This road that goes straight through, Centre Street, starts at the church and ends at the cementary. That street has all sorts; offices, residential, and some stores. It might have the most traffic, so it comes with some risk. I would say that our best bet would be to find some back-end tavern and ask around for information."

Samantha leaned to look closer at the map. "What about this area to the north and west?"

"Well, there's Pinto Creek to the north. Looks like some sort of resort's been built around it. To the west is a lot of farmland, and looks like there's the surrounding plains from there. I can't imagine that there's going to be a lot over there, but it's worth a try."

With his hands on his hips, Carl seemed to be planning something. "To me, it looks like there's a lot to do and very little time to do it. I think the only way we can get this done is to divide and conquer."

After a moment, Samantha gave him a glance. "We ask around different parts of town?"

Mike blew air for a moment. "That's a bit risky. One group trying to get information is one thing, but two? Three?"

"I know." Carl admitted, "That's why we be careful about it. We hit different parts of town, but never stray far away from each other. We minimalize the risk and consequences before it becomes a problem."

"Okay. Then we need to decide who goes where." Stepping back for a moment, Mike looked at them. "There's five of us, so I'm guessing we go in two groups?"

Carl nodded. "Two groups seems fine. I don't want to risk one of us being on their own and something happening to them."

When Jack finally spoke up, he seemed somewhat dismayed about saying what he had to say. "I suppose it's a bad time, then, to mention this?"

"Mention what?" Carl asked him, an eyebrow raised.

"I've maybe got something. A lead. But it might be a dead end and I don't want to lead us into it, so I was going to go for it by myself."

Blinking, Carl examined him. "Like I just said, that's a risk I'd rather not take."

"It'll be a day. Two, tops."

"That's not the point. If something happens to you, it's not just you who suffers."

Mike decided to step in. "Jack, are you sure about this?"

"I am."

"What is it, if I may ask?"

"I might have something." Jack simply explained, "I've been planning on chasing it up."

"Okay. Be it on your head, then."

With a thankful nod, Jack turned and left, shooting Ella a reassuring look to her worried and downtrodden one. Shaking his head, Carl stared at the map.

"That's an awfully big risk for something we don't even know about." Carl told Mike, clearly not happy.

"I trust his judgement." Mike responded evenly.

"We're a team."

"Yeah. And we all have an equal say, don't we?"

It was at that point that Samantha stepped in, and surprised them both. "He's right. Let it go. If it becomes a problem, we'll deal with it."

Though Carl still seemed against it, he relented. "Fine. What next?"

Samantha seemed to be running things through her head before she continued. "It seems to me that there's two ways we can do this; north and south, or east and west. I'd recommend the latter. If one group starts in one region and the other starts no more than two blocks away, we should be able to cover as much ground as possible each day. All we need is one lucky break."

"So who goes where?" Carl inquired.

Samantha seemed to glance between the two of them before she responded. "We'll still need to communicate. So it's back to Euphorics. Just in case."

Seeming to understand her unsaid words, Carl looked back at Mike and a small smile. "Looks like it's me and you, Mike."

Mike shrugged. "Sure."

Some time passed before they left the building, with their courses set. Before they split up, the group needed to go through the wooded area until they got up to Rachel Lane. As they traversed through, they continued their planning.

"I think we should start with the southern part of town and make our way up through the days." Samantha reasoned, "So Ella and I will start out near the church and make our way around the surrounding blocks, not going further than Kelsey Lane. Carl, I think you and Mike should start around these estates in the south-east. Looks empty, but there's got to be something easily missed there."

"If there's something out there, we'll find it." Carl assured her.

Once they reached the end of the wooded area, they stopped and prepared to part ways.

"Keep your eyes open." Mike told Ella, and she clapped him on the shoulder.

"Have fun, boys." She responded brightly before the turned to leave. Mike and Carl stepped out onto Rachel Lane and made their way down the road towards the first estate.

Walking past white picket fences, the two of them examined their surroundings properly. Out from the confines of the wooded area, they were now exposed to the summer sun. Stretches of fields and hills surrounded their view. Though the ground was somewhat dry and only just about irrigated, it was a far cry from the barren land back in the south of Hurricane.

It was amazing just how a few miles could make such a difference in the terrain.

Clearing his throat, Mike glanced at Carl, who seemed to be thinking deeply about something. "What do you think we'll find here?"

"Honestly?" Carl paused, "I'm not sure. Those files all pointed here, but other than that house, I can't see the significance of this town yet. But then again…I couldn't see the significance of Hurricane twenty years ago. Now we're here, and it feels we've only gone a few steps backwards."

Mike nodded his agreement. "Right. Honestly, it feels like that sometimes. Everything that went down there, it feels like we've just gone full circle. Like every time we make some progress on understanding any of it, we end up with more questions."

"That's what I mean. Considering everything, we were able to figure things out fairly quickly when we were going up against Golden Freddy. Same with that thing at Fazbear Frights. It was like someone left the breadcrumb trail for us to follow. Maybe that was just Thomas; he always made it look easy."

"He did." Mike admitted sadly, "If he didn't solve it just by looking at it, it would've come to him eventually."

"Yeah." With a mumble, Carl seemed to take a moment to breathe in. "Maybe all it would've taken was him stepping into that house. Maybe not. But he's not here for that, and I just can't put my finger on it. There's secrets buried in that house. If only the walls could talk…"

With a blink, Mike looked at him, unsure. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe it's something physical in that house. Maybe it's not. Maybe, rather than it being sporadic pieces of information and clues that were undeniable just left around the place, it's something more. Maybe rather than it being something for us to collect, it's ideas. Insignificant little things that are pieces. All meant to be put together. Worthless on their own, otherwise."

Mike was silent at first as he tried to understand what Carl was saying, digesting his theory. "So you're saying that we should be looking at that house, and this town, not as what it is, but what it could be? That rather than looking at it as something to solve, we should just look at it like it's already been solved?"

"Perhaps. Maybe all it would take is to start knocking down those walls and looking for anything hidden. Maybe all it will take is understanding what that house once was. You could feel it, couldn't you? When we stepped in? Something happened at that house."

With a shrug, Mike wasn't sure what to say. "It felt creepy, so I guess."

"Is that all? Because I could see the look on your face when we went in. You looked like you was about to faint."

"I'm tired. I'm exhausted, in fact. I think that being here is a mistake. Yeah, that house felt like it didn't want us there, but then again, we did break in."

But Carl didn't believe him and he gave a pressuring shake of his head. "It's gotten to you. I'm not sure how. All I can think is that it reminds you of what went down back in 1994, but I'd appreciate it if you were honest with me."

Mike sighed. "What do you want me to say, Carl? I don't want to be in this town. I've got a bad feeling that I can't shake. It feels like we're fish caught in a barrel, with these Nightingales after us. Now we've decided to just sit here and wait. What happened to the plan? With waiting for these operators to come and help us?"

"The plan hasn't changed." Carl stated evenly, "We're just changing our tactics."

"And how does that help us? This whole thing relies on coincidences and hope that they won't figure us out. If we keep hopping the fence, we just might get impaled on it. Sam was telling us one minute that we needed to keep moving, that staying in one place would be the end of us. Now, she's telling us that our best hope for survival is to set up camp in the same place we fled from?"

Carl gave a reluctant nod. "I understand where you're coming from. I do. But I can understand why staying here is going to be a better alternative than fleeing again. You don't know these Nightingales like we do."

"When Tom and I had Lawson targeting us, we kept moving. That was how we survived. Had we stopped, even for a moment, we would've been killed. If these Nightingales are even half as dangerous as Dutch, then we're risking a lot on what ifs."

With a weary sigh, Carl stopped in his tracks. Mike kept walking for a few moments before he realised that Carl wasn't by his side anymore. Stopping, he turned to look at him.

"Samantha already gave you a choice." Carl pointed out, "If you're not happy with staying here, nothing's keeping you. If Ella and Jack want to do the same, fair enough. This isn't a commitment. We're not going to hold you down and not allow you to leave."

Mike shook his head. "That's not the point."

"Isn't it? Let me make something clear: It's mine and Samantha's choice to stay here. Just like it was yours to stay in Hurricane, and to come back. Mike, I respect you and I'd even go as far as to call you a friend. But don't forget. We were only at Fazbear's Frights because it was your investigation."

With that, Carl continued walking, going past Mike and leaving him stunned, processing his words.

Sunday 31st May 2015, 15:16 PM

Other than a few small houses, there wasn't exactly a flurry of buildings on the first street that they explored. The first had a small stretch of farmland that was somewhat overgrown, with a few pick-up trucks parked around the side street. Less of a front drive and more of a dirt road that led up to their house.

Even the pathways were simple gravel and dirt trails. At least there was a lot of green; Hurricane had been nearly desolate.

Though by landmass New Harmony seemed large enough, there was very little in the town. That meant there was very little hay in the stack, but would the needle realistically be in such a quaint little town?

"I wonder what history this town holds." Samantha mumbled to herself, forgetting that Ella was walking by her side. When she shot Samantha a questioning look, she shrugged her shoulders somewhat sheepishly. "You know what I'm talking about. Urban legends. Folklore."

Ella shrugged, "Who knows? I think it was founded in the mid-eighteenth century. Compared to Hurricane, it's more like a collection of homesteads."

"Right." Sam nodded, "Population: 207. Any idea how many people live in Hurricane?"

"Pretty sure it's about a hundred times more than that. I'm trying to understand the significance. Other than proximity, what does Freddy's have to do with this place?"

"That's why we're here." Samantha pointed out, "To find the significance. Even if we're off the grid. Nothing's changed from the last few months, except now we've got a roof over our head."

Ella gave a small smile. "I'm used to that kind of stuff. It's like when I was on tour in Afghan." When Sam shot her a surprised glance, Ella gave another shrug. "Combat Engineer and Mechanic."

"I remember reading that you were a veteran." Sam said, "I didn't realise you'd seen combat. I guess it explains some things. You seem like you're trusted quite a lot by your team."

"It was a long time ago. I left about a decade ago. Wanted to do some good and achieve some justice back home. Joined the police force up in New York for a while, but it just didn't work for me. Met a lot of good cops there, but it always felt like we were being regulated to the point where I felt more like a badge than someone trying to help the community."

With a sideward glance, Samantha recalled what she had read in her file. "So then you became an activist?"

"Activist, troublemaker, anything I could do to make life difficult for people who abused their power. I needed something to take my mind off of things. When I got home after my third tour, I'd sometimes just pack my things and disappear for a few days. Sometimes a few weeks. Off into the wilderness, into a national forest, sometimes into a completely different state."

She couldn't help the small laugh that she gave. "So this little venture of ours must just feel like business as usual, huh?"

"In a way. Don't get me wrong, I would always make sure I knew the local area before I went into it. Knew where emergency services were just in case I got myself hurt. Had my rifle and my pistol with me every single moment. Half the time, the biggest problem I had was accidentally crossing into a state where my license wasn't valid. Last thing I needed was to get arrested because I stumbled into a state that didn't permit either concealed or open."

Samantha watched her and remained silent as Ella continued to talk. "If I've learnt anything from those wild camping trips, it's that you would never expect what secrets a town holds when you first stumble upon it. They all have their own little tales of history and folklore. These towns all have their stories, and they're never the same tale twice."

"Sometimes it can be tales of love. Hate. Simple things that perhaps can be plays on history. Other times, they can be because of some terrible accident or crime that happened which rocked the town. A haunted mental asylum, a ghastly figure, a few people going missing. All of them can be explained rationally. Some are without explanation."

"But they're always different." Samantha agreed, "Mysteries built on top of mysteries."

"Exactly. There was this one town that was convinced a long-dead president was haunting their town. Another had this tale about an ancient battle being fought right there, a battle which determined the fate of the entire country. When the first tale somehow has more merit, maybe there's a reason why there's so many sceptics?"

"The real question you have to ask yourself is if finding out more is an achievement, or a mistake." Ella looked at Samantha with a curious glint in her eyes. "So just what are you expecting to find here?"

Silent for a moment, Samantha had to gather her thoughts. The question hadn't been one that came up out of the blue; she'd been racking a similar one over and over again in her head for the past week.

How could she justify leading them all into this town? With so many risks and threats hanging over them?

"I'm not sure." She finally admitted, "But I can feel it in my gut that we're on the right track. The moment that I stepped into this town, I knew it's what we've been looking for. That it's more than meets the eye. There's something right here that answers so many questions. Questions I've seen good people spend so many years trying to answer."

"I don't know what we're going to find in this place." She turned her head to look at Ella. "But I know it's meant to be."

"Okay then." Ella responded, a small smile playing on her lips. "Then let's find it."

As they arrived on the next street, both of them noticed the building just on the corner heading north. The door, a red wooden block with a glass panel, was dimly lit. But they could make out the bar inside, as well as the patrons.

"Looks like we've found one." Ella murmured.

Heading across the road, they noticed the sign saying, Ed's Diner. Now that they were on central street, it seemed that they were coming across a few more shops. Looking the place up and down, Samantha shrugged.

"It's not exactly Osteria Francesca," She said quietly, "but it'll do."

Walking into the bar, the first thing Samantha noticed was the lack of people inside. There were maybe five people inside total, not including the bartender who was cleaning some glasses and sorting the cabinet at the back. Another worker was wiping the tables down, and they could just about make out the chef through the open wall.

Choosing one of the tables in the corner, the two of them sat down. As they waited, Samantha knew they had to handle this next step carefully. Getting information in this sort of situation required a scalpel.

The young woman, perhaps mid-twenties, wiping down the tables finished what she was doing and went over to them, smiling. "Hey, darlings. You lookin' for food or drink?"

"Food would be lovely, thank you." Samantha responded kindly, glancing at the menu, "I was thinking…the King Crab and chips?"

The waitress wrote down the order, "King Crab and Chips. Yep. How about you?"

Ella hesitated, "Uh…Pasta and Bolognese?"

"Got it. Meals will be ready shortly, alright?"

"Thank you." Samantha smiled before the waitress left. Noticing the somewhat queasy look on Ella's face, she raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like fish." Ella admitted, "Crabs especially…just blegh."

"Ah. Sorry."

"Eh, no worries. I'm just, uh, gonna go get a drink."

Standing up, Ella went over to the bar, and the bartender nodded. He was maybe in his early thirties. "What's up? What you needing?"

"Whiskey."

Within moments, the bartender had poured one and Ella thanked him before paying. Sensing an opportunity, Samantha stood up and went over to the bar. Appraising her, the bartender asked her the same and she ordered a soda.

"Haven't seen you two before." The bartender mentioned.

"Doing a bit of travelling." Ella gave a shrug, "Coast to coast, you know."

"Lots of people travelling these days." The bartender agreed, "Still, not a lot of them come through New Harmony. Not a lot out here."

"Seems quite small." Samantha sat down on one of the chairs, "It's not a bad little town. Small community?"

"Yep. One of those know everyone types of places. Of course, town's only getting smaller. Kids pack up and move to California or Nevada the moment they figure out how to put two hands on a steering wheel."

"They're adventurous, alright." She grinned, "My oldest could hardly sit still. Wanted out the house the moment he could."

"Oh God, I know." The bartender laughed, "My kid's going to be sixteen in August. Seems to think that he can just buy a car and travel a million miles on the dot. It's sad. I do wish they'd stay and support our little community, but I can understand why they'd want to get out there."

"How about you, then? Live here long?"

"Been here all my life. Good folk around here." Seeing the Ella was finished with her whiskey, he offered her a refill, which she politely declined, "My dad owns the place, had me working here since I was fourteen. Wish I could've gotten out more when I was younger."

Samantha shrugged, "There's still time. Trust me, you'd regret it more if you never tried."

"I suppose so. Don't get me wrong; I love New Harmony. Born and bred. But I've only ever left for family, and ever out of state. But could always be worse; town's clean and no crime really ever happens."

"Advantages of a tight-packed community." Ella pointed out.

"And there's far worse towns." Samantha leaned back and looked at Ella, "Like that one town we went through the other week. The one that had that bad case of food poisoning? Terrible."

"Nothing like that ever happens around here, I assure you." The bartender smiled, but then it slackened slightly. "At least, nothing like that has happened for a good few years."

"Oh?" Sam raised her eyebrows, feigning concern. "What happened?"

"Eh, it was when I was still a kid, you understand. There was this one old restaurant place, had some funny characters to boot. It was really popular back then, but something happened there. That, and it got that successful that their feet grew too big for their boots."

Knowing that she was on the right track, Samantha tried to keep her eagerness at bay. "This place, what happened?"

"I can't say for sure. Big incident, I think someone got killed. Some people say that there was more than one, that multiple people were killed, but it's mostly just rumour and speculation. This old place, I think it was called Fredbear's Diner, back like, thirty years ago."

"What happened to do?"

"Well, I think they relocated after it all happened. Moved the place down to Hurricane. Lot more business down there. What remains of the place is just off Harmony Drive. Uh…listen, don't let that thing worry you. It was a long time ago, and things like that don't happen here anymore."

"It's fine." Samantha smiled reassuringly, "It's just stories, isn't it?"

Once their food arrived, the two ate it quietly before paying, Samantha handing a tip to both the waitress and the bartender. They stepped out and started walking down the street. Ella gave her a glance as they walked.

"So," She said with some surprise, "Looks like your hunch was right."

"Indeed."

Fredbear's Family Diner, she thought to herself in amazement, right here. In this town.

Perhaps they were closer to those answers that they could've ever believed.

Sunday 31st May 2015, 15:27 PM

He hated not telling them the truth.

There were many layers to his doubt and worry when it came to what he was doing. Without anyone watching his back, there wasn't much room for error. On his own and isolated. No one knowing where he was going and why. It was a big risk, one that wouldn't just come down on him.

But Jack knew he had little choice in the matter; the moment they landed in New Harmony, he knew it was inevitable. It was a lead that he had been wanting to follow up on for a long time. One that being missed was unacceptable.

They deserve to know, Jack argued at himself, calling himself a fool for doing this alone, no matter what they would think.

At the same time, the convenience of it was clear. If he had someone go with him, it would either leave someone else alone, or it would limit the leads that were actually important to the investigation. This was a selfish thing he was doing and it wasn't right to make it even more so.

Even in his two closest friends he hadn't confided in. The last thing he wanted was to lure either one of them into a dangerous situation. Besides, Ella didn't even know the whole truth. At the very least Mike did, but Jack could see that he was already uncomfortable enough.

When they had first started working together, a couple years back, Mike had made something clear to him. After he had helped Jack with the little problem he had, Mike had offered him the chance to do some good. A chance to redeem himself for what he had done, so many years ago.

Mike had known who he was from the start, of course. That was perhaps why he'd sought him out to begin with. They'd had a common enemy, one who had equally screwed up their lives beyond repair and Mike had figured out a way to stop it from happening to some other poor soul.

No lone wolf stuff, he'd told Mike when they first met, we're a team.

There was a difference between the two of them, of course. When Mike had gone into his Rubicon, it had been an accident. He'd walked into it unaware of what was to come. By contrast, Jack had been looking for trouble. Maybe he hadn't been expecting just how bad it would be, but his intentions had been anything but naïve.

Perhaps that was why he hadn't told either of them about what he was doing. Mike and Ella were both good people at their core, two people who were forced upon this path that they walked. Had they not gone through their crucible, Jack had a feeling they would not be here.

Jack only had himself to blame for the position he was in. No point dragging other people into it.

If something happened to one of them , I'd never forgive myself.

When Thomas Caine had confronted him about this, Jack had of course been worried. He wasn't stupid; he knew that the detective had been trying to find out his secret from the moment they met. Jack had actually been looking forward to sharing that truth, without any omission. He hadn't known the man long, but he had a feeling that they could've related.

Shaking his head, Jack tried to clear his thoughts and got back onto the task at hand. There was a big job ahead of him.

Much like Carl had his own contacts spread sporadically around the country, Jack too had old friends he could call favours for. People he had worked with in the past, or simply those he'd either requested the services of or vice versa. One of those contacts had a drop-off point in this very town.

If luck was with him, he could just walk to that drop-off point and this contact would already be there. If not, then he would need to request a meeting and then wait. Once he was in contact with this individual, it would be time to enlist their services once more. Not only for him, but it would perhaps help his friends' investigation.

"Let's just hope that they'll help me out." He mumbled to himself, hardly even sarcastically, "Bygones be bygones, and all."

If not, then the best he could hope was that there wouldn't be enough left of him for his allies to look for. The last thing he needed was for one of them to go guns blazing to avenge him. In the long run, he wasn't worth that much.

Of course, even if the meeting did go well, there were some other issues.

I've got an unfortunate face, he thought to himself bitterly, that might be a problem.

Having their faces and names plastered all over the state after Fazbear Frights hadn't helped matters. Jack O'Driscol had been the name he'd used for the past few years, probably his longest one yet. Now that it was basically burnt, using it was no longer an option. That wasn't what worried him.

How long would it take for someone to take that name and face, then compare it to a different name with a surprisingly familiar face? He'd done well to avoid such problems in the past, but there was no going back afterwards. Even if they did manage to clear their names, it wasn't the law that Jack was worried about.

It was the fact that Fazbear Entertainment wasn't the last organisation he'd made an enemy out of. There were many a corrupt individual who would have liked to present poor Jack's head on a silver platter.

But that was an issue for another time. One that wasn't nearly the worst possibility. For now, Jack had some misfits to conspire with. Hopefully, he wouldn't end his days neck-deep in an acid bath.

TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3: Handling the minigames was something that required quite a lot of thought. Like you said, there's not a massive amount of time, and I learnt from my mistakes when it came to the minigames after the last story. No point writing a direct novelisation of the game. There's a lot of mystery surrounding that child, one which is going to be a tough one. Midnight, surprisingly, was not even going to be a thing until the last few weeks of planning this one. So far, I've also really liked his character. He's hyper lethal, much like Lawson was, but has a clear moral code. As for Utah and that house, my God the amount of research and planning I had to do to make sure it was accurate enough. Did you know that Hurricane is the most desolate town imaginable? Practically a desert out there. Became an issue, considering the grass and trees in those minigames which meant it couldn't have taken place there.